Space Shots

A Japanese spacecraft captured its own shadow as it departed from Ryugu, a small asteroid (left). Hayabusa 2 touched down on the asteroid on February 21, and its landing spot is clearly visible. While there, it shot a bullet into the surface to blast particles off the surface. A container aboard Hayabusa captured some of the grains of material for later return to Earth. At about the same time, another space shot was taking place in Florida (right), where Israel launched its first mission beyond Earth orbit. Beresheet (Hebrew for genesis) is scheduled to take a looping trajectory to the Moon, with touchdown in April. If it is successful, Israel will become the fourth country to stage a soft landing on the Moon. [JAXA/SpaceX]